Solar power arrives at UGA

This is terrific news:

This spring, the Athens campus will enjoy not only the familiar beauty of renewed life and vegetation as the season unfolds, but also the implementation of renewable energy through the UGA Solar Demonstration Project.

The project will be installed on the roof of the visual arts building, which is currently under renovation in preparation for its newest inhabitants—the College of Environment and Design. The building is being renovated to function as a living laboratory and instructional tool that will actively teach sustainable design strategies to UGA students. This includes a demonstration of appropriate technology for on-site renewable energy generation in Georgia.

The building is scheduled to reopen for the start of fall semester.

The UGA Solar Demonstration Project will provide nearly 30,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year—about enough energy to power 90 fluorescent T8 lights for 10 hours a day or 189 laptops for 8 hours a day for an entire year—and is anticipated to pay for itself over the next two decades through reduced electricity costs.

We (society, campus, individuals) absolutely must become more aggressive about renewable electricity. Plus the visual arts building, originally the new home of the Lamar Dodd School of Art when the building opened back in the 60's, was very innovative for our campus at the time and so it's great that it can once again assume this mantle, though in a different and altogether even more necessary fashion.

This is a welcome project and the University has been a willing partner in several great pilot projects over the years that have helped publicize what can be done with research, ingenuity plus the tools and and technology that already exist. But now we must begin to do more than that and this is good first step - one that will save money and make a difference in leaving some coal on the heap that we don't have to burn. But we must do more - we need energy audits throughout campus; we need to instil some competitive practices between schools, departments and even buildings to reduce the amount of energy it takes us to do what we do. What is the carbon footprint of your building? Do you know? Let's find out and create incentives to reduce it. We are a microcosm and this is a place where we can lead.

Image: The Googleplex rooftops and carparks blanketed in solar cells as seen from the Zepplin NT, 2009. Wikipedia Commons.